During his tenure as

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

(January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021),

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

granted executive clemency to 237 individuals charged or convicted of federal criminal offenses, using his clemency power under Article II, Section 2 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. Ordinarily, all requests for executive clemency for federal offenses are directed to the

Office of the Pardon Attorney The Office of the Pardon Attorney assists the president of the United States in his exercise of executive clemency as authorized by Article II, Section 2, of the US Constitution. It is part of the United States Department of Justice and is in co ...

(OPA) in the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

for review; however, Trump frequently bypassed the OPA, and the majority of his executive clemency grants were made to well-connected convicts who did not file a petition with the OPA or meet the OPA's requirements. Overall, Trump granted less clemency than any modern president. Of the pardons and commutations that Trump did grant, the vast majority were to persons to whom Trump had a personal or political connection, or persons for whom executive clemency served a political goal.Kenneth P. Vogel
"The Road to Clemency from Trump Was Closed to Most Who Sought It"
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (January 26, 2020). A significant number had been convicted of fraud or public corruption. ''

'' reported that during the closing days of the Trump presidency, individuals with access to the administration, such as former administration officials, were soliciting fees to lobby for presidential pardons.

Background

The U.S. president's power of

clemency A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...

arises from Article II of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

. Clemency "may take several forms, including

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...

commutation of sentence In law, a commutation is the substitution of a lesser penalty for that given after a conviction In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquitta ...

, remission of fine or restitution, and reprieve", with the two most commonly used forms being a pardon or commutation. A pardon is an official forgiveness for an acknowledged crime. Once a pardon is issued, all further punishment for the crime is waived. The president can only grant pardons for federal offenses. When the president commutes a sentence, it reduces the severity of a sentence without voiding the conviction itself; for example, a commutation may reduce or eliminate a prison term, while leaving other punishments intact. The power of clemency is "one of the most unlimited powers bestowed on the president by the Constitution."

Trump's use of executive clemency

For 125 years, the key adviser to the president on clemency has been the Department of Justice's

(OPA) which normally reviews all requests for pardons. Trump often bypassed the OPA, and, unlike previous presidents, made the majority of his grants to executive clemency to "well-connected offenders who had not filed petitions with the pardon office or did not meet its requirements." Ultimately, of the 237 grants of clemency by Trump, only 25 came through the Office of the Pardon Attorney's process (which at the end of Trump's presidency had a backlog of 14,000 applications); the other clemency recipients came to Trump's attention through an ''ad hoc'' process at the Trump White House that benefited clemency applicants with money or connections to Trump allies, friends, and family members. Most of Trump's pardons and commutations were granted to people with personal or political connections to him. Compared to other presidents, Trump granted clemency at low rates, with the bulk coming later in his term. Of Trump's grants of clemency, 84% were made in his last fiscal year in office, with 144 out of his 237 grants of clemency being granted on his last night in office; the list was "assembled so hastily that it contained inaccurate information about some cases." Legal experts raised concerns that Trump was "relying on his personal connections rather than the Justice Department's established review process for finding convicts deserving of clemency." A late December 2020 analysis by

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

Jack Goldsmith Jack Landman Goldsmith III (born September 26, 1962) is an American legal scholar. He is a professor at Harvard Law School who has written extensively in the fields of international law, civil procedure, federal courts, conflict of laws, and na ...

determined that "seven of the 94 Trump grants came on recommendation from the pardon attorney" and "at least 84 out of 94 Trump pardons had a personal or political connection to the president." On February 19, 2020, Vermont Senator

Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph Leahy (; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who is the senior United States senator from Vermont and serves as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, ...

requested information on the process used by Trump in deciding to grant clemency to 11 people the preceding day. In response to the criticism of his bypassing of the OPA, Trump said that he is the "chief law enforcement officer of the country." Former Justice Department official and Mueller investigation prosecutor Andrew Weissmann noted that the language of Trump's pardons varied, ranging from a broad pardon of

Michael Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born December 24, 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general and conspiracy theorist who was the 24th U.S. National Security Advisor for the first 22 days of the Trump administration. He resigned in light of ...

to narrower pardons for several others, including

Paul Manafort Paul John Manafort Jr. (; born April 1, 1949) is an American lobbyist, political consultant, and attorney. A long-time Republican Party campaign consultant, he chaired the Trump presidential campaign from June to August 2016. Manafort served ...

and

Roger Stone Roger Jason Stone (born Roger Joseph Stone Jr.; August 27, 1952) is an American conservative political consultant and lobbyist. Since the 1970s, Stone has worked on the campaigns of Republican politicians, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Rea ...

, which Weissmann argued created "windows of opportunity" to prosecute individuals who had been narrowly pardoned.

Supporters and political allies

Trump's use of the pardon power was marked by an unprecedented degree of favoritism. He frequently granted executive clemency to his supporters or political allies, or following personal appeals or campaigns in

conservative media Media bias is the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of many events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening of J ...

, as in the cases of

Rod Blagojevich Rod Blagojevich ( , born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nicknames "Blago" or "B-Rod", is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009, when ...

Michael Milken Michael Robert Milken (born July 4, 1946) is an American financier. He is known for his role in the development of the market for high-yield bonds ("junk bonds"), and his conviction and sentence following a guilty plea on felony charges for vio ...

Joe Arpaio Joseph Michael Arpaio (; born June 14, 1932) is an American former law enforcement officer and politician. He served as the 36th Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona for 24 years, from 1993 to 2017, losing reelection to Democrat Paul Penzone i ...

Dinesh D'Souza Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. He has written over a dozen books, several of them ''New York Times'' best-sellers. In 2012, D' ...

, and

Clint Lorance Clint Allen Lorance (born December 13, 1984) is a former United States Army officer who is known for having been convicted and pardoned for war crimes. While serving as a first lieutenant in the infantry in the War in Afghanistan with the 4th ...

, as well as

Bernard Kerik Bernard Bailey Kerik (born September 4, 1955) is an American consultant and former police officer who was the 40th Commissioner of the New York Police Department from 2000 to 2001. As a convicted felon, he obtained a presidential pardon from Pre ...

. Trump granted clemency to five of his former campaign staff members and political advisers:

Stephen K. Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist in the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump during the ...

, and

George Papadopoulos George Demetrios Papadopoulos (; born August 19, 1987) is an author and former member of the foreign policy advisory panel to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. On October 5, 2017, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to a felony charge of mak ...

.Aaron Blake
Trump's swampiest pardons, ranked
, ''Washington Post'' (January 20, 2021). Many of Trump's grants of clemency were criticized by the federal agents and prosecutors who investigated and prosecuted the cases. Trump's grant of clemency to Stone in July 2020 marked the first time Trump granted clemency to a "figure directly connected to the president's campaign." Representatives

Jerrold Nadler Jerrold Lewis Nadler (; born June 13, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who since 2013 has served as the U.S. representative for , which includes Manhattan's west side and parts of Brooklyn. A member of the Democratic Party, he is in ...

and

Carolyn B. Maloney Carolyn Jane Maloney (née Bosher, February 19, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013, and for from 1993 to 2013. The district includes most of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and Long Island City ...

, who chair two House committees, said that "No other president has exercised the clemency power for such a patently personal and self-serving purpose" and said that they would investigate whether Stone's commutation was a reward for protecting Trump. Most Republican elected officials remained silent on Trump's commutation of Stone. Exceptions were Republican senators

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

, who termed the commutation "unprecedented, historic corruption," and

Pat Toomey Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representat ...

, who called the commutation a "mistake" due in part to the severity of the crimes of which Stone was convicted.

Requests by celebrities

In 2018, following a request by celebrity

Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the sex ...

, Trump commuted the life sentence of

Alice Marie Johnson Alice Marie Johnson (born May 30, 1955) is an American criminal justice reform advocate and former federal prisoner. She was convicted in 1996 for her involvement in a Memphis cocaine trafficking organization and sentenced to life imprisonment. ...

who had been convicted of drug trafficking. In August 2020, he pardoned Johnson after she had praised his leadership in a campaign video at the 2020

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

Military personnel accused or convicted of war crimes

Trump granted executive clemency to three

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

ed U.S. military officers who were accused or convicted of war crimes in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Trump granted the pardons against the advice of senior military and Defense Department leadership, as well as U.S. military lawyers. Critics state that Trump's pardons of the officers undermined

military discipline Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodie ...

, constituted an inappropriate interference in the U.S.

military justice Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodie ...

system, and called into question the U.S. commitment to the

law of armed conflict International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by prot ...

. Tensions between Trump and the Defense Department regarding Trump's interventions in the military justice system culminated in the firing of

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

Richard V. Spencer. Two ex-military officers pardoned by Trump appeared with the president at campaign events in 2019.

Congressmen

Trump issued pardons to seven Republican congressmen convicted of crimes: Chris Collins,

Duncan D. Hunter Duncan Duane Hunter (born December 7, 1976) is an American former politician and United States Marine who served as a U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2020. He is a member of the Republican Party, who was first elected to the House in 2008 ...

Steve Stockman Stephen Ernest Stockman (born November 14, 1956) is an American politician who is a member of the Republican Party and a convicted felon. He served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 9th congressional district from 1995 to 1997 and for Texas' ...

Rick Renzi Richard George Renzi (born June 11, 1958) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing from 2003 until 2009. In 2013, he was convicted on federal criminal charges against him fo ...

Robin Hayes Robert Cannon "Robin" Hayes (born August 14, 1945) is an American politician and businessman from North Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, he represented North Carolina's 8th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1 ...

Mark Siljander Mark Deli Siljander (born June 11, 1951) is an American author and politician who served as a Republican U.S. Representative from the state of Michigan. He authored the book'' A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman's Quest to Bridge the Muslim-C ...

, and Randall "Duke" Cunningham. Trump also granted clemency to at least ten healthcare executives and doctors convicted in large-scale

Medicare fraud In the United States, Medicare fraud is the claiming of Medicare health care reimbursement to which the claimant is not entitled. There are many different types of Medicare fraud, all of which have the same goal: to collect money from the Medicare ...

schemes.Eric Lipton
For Prosecutors, Trump's Clemency Decisions Were a 'Kick in the Teeth'
, ''New York Times'' (January 21, 2021). The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association criticized Trump's pardons to executives who orchestrated massive Medicare frauds.

Wealthy individuals

Many wealthy individuals paid tens of thousands of dollars to former advisors to Trump for them to lobby Trump to grant pardons, bypassing the review process of the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Trump former personal lawyer

John M. Dowd John Maguire Dowd (born November 2, 1941) is an American attorney, former attorney for the United States Department of Justice, and former United States Marine Corps Judge Advocate Division, Marine Corps Judge Advocate. Dowd was employed by seve ...

was hired by a number of convicts to lobby Trump for clemency, taking advantage of his direct access to Trump's White House Counsel's Office.

Matt Schlapp Matthew Aaron Schlapp (born December 18, 1967) is an American political activist and lobbyist who is chairman of the American Conservative Union. He leads the lobbying firm Cove Strategies, which had strong ties to the Donald Trump administration ...

, the chairman of the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference. Founded on ...

and a lobbyist close to Trump administration, also lobbied Trump for clemency on behalf of their clients, as did Mark D. Cowan, another lobbyist allied with the administration. Trump's White House Counsel

Pat Cipollone Pasquale Anthony "Pat" Cipollone (born May 6, 1966) is an American attorney who served as White House Counsel for President Donald Trump. Early life Cipollone's father was an Italian immigrant and factory worker; his mother was a homemaker. He ...

was officially in charge of the internal White House pardon process, but "key gatekeepers" included Trump's daughter

Ivanka Trump Ivana Marie "Ivanka" Trump (; born October 30, 1981) is an American businesswoman and the first daughter of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. She was a senior advisor in his administration, and also was the ...

and son-in-law

Jared Kushner Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He served as a senior advisor to 45th U.S. president Donald Trump, his father-in-law. Since leaving the White House, Kushner founded Affinity Partners, a pri ...

. Trump was also influenced by a "kitchen cabinet" that included Tolman;

Americans for Prosperity Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States funded by Charles Koch and formerly his brother David. As the Koch brothers' primary political advocacy group, it is one ...

chairman Mark Holden; Trump's former acting attorney general Matt Whitaker; Trump clemency recipient

; and Trump's former attorney

Pam Bondi Pamela Jo Bondi (born November 17, 1965) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician. A Republican, she served as the 37th Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019, the first woman elected to the office. In 2020, Bondi was one of Presid ...

, a former

Florida Attorney General The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs. The office is one of Florida's t ...

Chronology

From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff

; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine;

Scooter Libby Irve Lewis "Scooter" Libby (born August 22, 1950) is an American lawyer and former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney known for his high-profile indictment. From 2001 to 2005, Libby held the offices of Assistant to the Vice President ...

, a political aide to former vice president

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...

; conservative commentator

. He pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American soldiers convicted or accused of war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq. In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater guards convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007

Nisour Square massacre The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting (now Constellis), a private military company contracted by the US government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at Iraqi civilia ...

; white-collar criminals

and

; and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law

Charles Kushner Charles Kushner (born May 16, 1954) is an American real estate developer, former federal inmate, and disbarred former attorney. He founded Kushner Companies in 1985. In 2005, he was convicted of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, a ...

. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections:

Alex van der Zwaan Alex Rolf van der Zwaan (; born September 1984) is a Belgian-born Dutch attorney formerly with the London branch of New York-based international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. On 20 February 2018, he pleaded guilty to one count ...

, ''Roger Stone'', whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and

. In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations, including to his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser

Elliott Broidy Elliott B. Broidy (born 1956/1957) is an American venture capitalist and businessman. From 2005 to 2008, he served as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). In 2009, he was convicted in a public corruption and bribery case in ...

, and former Republican congressmen

, Robert Hayes, and Randall "Duke" Cunningham. He also commuted the sentences of dozens of people, including former Detroit mayor

Kwame Kilpatrick Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Represen ...

and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney

to plead his case with Trump.

List of recipients of executive clemency from Trump

Pardons

Trump issued a total of 143 pardons during his four years in office: one in 2017, six in 2018, eight in 2019, twelve in 2020, and 116 in January 2021.

Commutations

Trump issued 94 commutations: one in 2017, four in 2018, two in 2019, five in 2020, and 83 in January 2021.

Miscellaneous

In 2019, former

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...

Eddie Gallagher was demoted following a July 2, 2019

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

based on accusations that he had committed a war crime. Trump later reversed his demotion.

Responses

In October 2019,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

enacted the TRUST Act, which was signed into law by

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

. Among other things, the act closed a

double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare case ...

provision of state law to allow state prosecutors to pursue charges for violations of New York law against individuals pardoned by the president for a violation of federal law. The New York legislation was aimed at Trump's use of the pardon power.

New York state attorney general The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of ...

Letitia James, proposed the law after multiple former Trump associates were investigated in New York state. James' office has been investigating the finances of Trump and

the Trump Organization The Trump Organization is a group of about 500 business entities of which Donald Trump is the sole or principal owner. Around 250 of these entities use the Trump name. The organization was founded in 1927 by Donald Trump's paternal grandmother ...

. Upon passage of the law, James said that "We have a responsibility to ensure that individuals who commit crimes under New York state law are held accountable for those crimes. This critical new law closes a gaping loophole that could have allowed any president to abuse the presidential pardon power by unfairly granting a pardon to a family member or close associate and possibly allow that individual to evade justice altogether."